Successful television advertising, or commercials, can be critical to the success of many businesses. Depending on numerous factors, including the length of a commercial, the day and time that the commercial is played for the viewing audience, and the number of times the commercial is played, advertising on television can be an extremely expensive endeavor. Companies often spend a significant portion of their revenue on advertising in an effort to attract the attention of their targeted demographic. The success of a television commercial, however, is dependent in large part upon its viewing by the target audience. If a commercial is not seen, it cannot be effective.
Being subjected to television commercials is a source of inconvenience to some viewers who have tuned to a particular television broadcast for the purpose of watching the broadcast as quickly as possible, without having to watch commercials with no perceived relevance to their lives, even if such relevance exists. These viewers often record television broadcasts with the purpose or benefit of being able to fast-forward through the commercials. Digital video recorders (“DVRs”) enable television viewers to record their desired television shows to a hard drive and watch them at their convenience. DVRs are typically easy to use, and have therefore made recording and fast-forwarding television content simple. Unfortunately for the advertisers spending a lot of money for their advertisements to be seen, the result is that advertisements are easily and often skipped. With the increasing popularity of DVRs, advertisements are being seen by fewer people, and are therefore becoming less effective.